ARTICLE: "The August 1976 Notting Hill Carnival riot", by Kieran James, 11 December 2013.

The Clash, known as The Last Gang in Town and The Only Band that Mattered - Nicky "Topper" Headon, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Joe Strummer.

The Clash Mark II, 1982-85, Strummer left, Simonon 2nd from right.

By Kieran James: With the recent attention on the Little India riot in Singapore, I thought it might be a good time to recall the riot which followed the 1976 Notttng Hill Carnival in West London which has become a part of the history and mythology of punk rock. 

First we look at the backdrop. It had been one of the hottest summers on record. The national unemployment rate was fast rising to a record post-War high. The minority Labour Party Government led by the late James Callaghan (in office from 5 April 1976 to 4 May 1979 after he succeeded Harold Wilson via an internal leadership ballot) was on its last legs having had to suffer the indignity of public service cuts enforced by the International Monetary Fund. Its cuts in government spending aroused public anger and prefigured Thatcherism which was only three years away (see James Callaghan article on Wikipedia). It was the first summer of punk rock. Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood were running their clothing and fetish-wear shop SEX at 430 King's Road, Chelsea which was an important meeting place for punk rockers in the early days. Sex Pistol bassist Glen Matlock worked in the shop on Saturdays. One afternoon in August 1975, a 19-year-old second-generation Irishman from Finsbury Park in North London John Joseph Lydon walked into the shop and, as the saying goes, at the same time walked into history. Lydon very shortly afterwards was hired by the Sex Pistols to become their vocalist. He adopted the persona of Johnny Rotten and joined the line-up consisting of Steve Jones (guitar), Paul Cook (drums), and Glen Matlock (bass). There are two incorrect theories about the origins of the Sex Pistols: firstly that they were a fake band manufactured by Malcolm McLaren in order to promote his shop and shock the ruling-class via the means of popular culture (since protest through conventional political channels had been perceived as ineffective). The second incorrect theory is that the Pistols were just four working-class lads who just happened to form in perfect time for the English punk rock movement to begin. There is some truth in both these perspectives and the truth lies somewhere in between. The band was definitely first designed to promote the shop and then of course it later became far more famous than the shop. However, the Pistols was also a "real" band and certainly not McLaren's puppets or hired-hands. Interestingly, the early English punk scene of 1976 was not all-white. For example, the rival clothing store to SEX called Acme Attractions was managed by an Afro-Caribbean Don Letts and a Chinese Jeanette Lee (see Acme Attractions article on Wikipedia).

Sex Pistols, Soho 1976: Matlock, Jones, Lydon, Cook

An important event in punk history was when New York City punk band The Ramones played a show at The Roundhouse in North London in July 1976. This gig was attended by most of the early English punk band members. The Sex Pistols had already existed for six months, having played its first show on 6 November 1975 at St Martin's School of Art at 109 Charing Cross Road, West London WC2. The Clash played its first show on 4 July 1976 at The Black Swan in Sheffield supporting the Pistols. The Damned had also formed. Punk journalist Caroline Coon classified the Pistols as "personal politics", The Clash as "serious politics", and The Damned as "camp and good fun". The Ramones' fast, poppy style of punk soon became the norm in the scene.

John Lydon and Clash guitarist Joe Strummer and bassist Paul Simonon all identified with Jamaican political reggae music and often frequented the basement reggae clubs in areas such as Notting Hill and Ladbroke Grove in West London. Simonon had grown up in the multicultural streets of Brixton where he was introduced to black music via his black school-friends and the music pouring out of the ghetto-blasters through every open window. Strummer and Simonon preferred the political reggae of bands such as Prince Far-I over anything more commercial and safe. The Rastafarian community of London was looking forward to the year "when the two sevens clash" (1977) predicted in Rastafarian culture to be a time of harmony and restoration.

In the summer of 1976, members of The Clash and the Pistols were "squatting" (living illegally in old vacant houses scheduled for demolition) in the areas of Camden Town in North London and Ladbroke Grove and Notting Hill in West London. Clash guitarist Mick Jones lived with his grandmother on the 18th floor of a council tower block called Wilmcote House (on the Warwick Estate), which directly overlooked the Westway, the raised motorway which approaches Central London from the west and which is featured in the 1977 Clash song "London's Burning". Wilmcote House still stands today in West London and is pictured below. Joe Strummer was squatting nearby at 101 Walterton Road (since demolished) in Maida Vale. Strummer's pre-Clash band was named The 101'ers after the street number of Strummer's squat. Sid Vicious (later to replace Matlock as bassist for the Pistols) was an early fan of punk and he was well known to everyone in the punk scene.

Wilmcote House, where Mick Jones lived (1974-76).

The Afro-Caribbean Notting Hill Carnival was still in its early years then and far smaller than it is today. Strummer and Simonon attended the carnival. As the carnival wound down the mood began to get tense on the streets. This was the one day of the year when black Jamaican youth had available to them to get some revenge upon the racist British police force. Strummer and Simonon identified with and supported the black rioters but they understood this was "their riot", a response to racial injustices and sub-standard racially-motivated treatment. They returned back to their squat to get Sid Vicious and then the three returned back to the riot. In a touching gesture, senior black ladies shouted to the punks from the top floors of terrace houses: "don't go that way, boys, you will be killed". 400 black youth, termed by Strummer as "the hardcore of the hardcore", were the last remaining carnival guests and they were literally lined up across the street in opposition to the riot police. The first police baton charge is captured by a picture by Rocco Macauley which appeared on the original back cover of The Clash's self-titled debut album of 1977. In the end Strummer and Simonon played only minor roles in the riot allegedly overturning vehicles. The band composed the song "White Riot" about the day's events: "Black people gotta lot of problems but they sure know how to throw a brick / white people go to school where they teach you how to be thick / and no-one wants to go to jail". The aim of the song was to encourage white people to overcome their passivity and be as forward as black people in broadcasting their demands via strategic social protest [by Kieran James, 11 December 2013].

Police at the Notting Hill Carnival riot, West London, August 1976.

The Sex Pistols sign with A&M Records across the road from Buckingham Palace watched by a policeman, 1977. From left: John Lydon, Paul Cook (at back), Steve Jones (signing), Sid Vicious, Malcolm McLaren (manager).

Modern-day left-wing punks in Burma.